Category: Language
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Irony(?)
Amuse-bouche: Un jeu de mots : Comment ca va ? Commence, Ava. Today’s Wonderful Word: “halcyon.” Definition: characterized by happiness, great success, and prosperity; calm or peaceful. Another meaning: a bird identified with the kingfisher and held in ancient legend. Example: Ancient sailors believed the halcyon would calm the seas, bringing peace to their journeys across tumultuous waters. Irony…
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Author rebellion
Amuse-bouche: Despite spanning five geographical time zones, China follows a single standard time across the country. So, if you were to cross into Afghanistan from Western China through the Wakhjir Pass, you’d be going 3.5 hours back in time in a matter of seconds. It’s the sharpest time change of any international frontier. – Morning…
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Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.
Amuse-bouche: “I’ve lost all hope in humanity.” “Why’s that? What happened?” “The sign. I leave for a long weekend and it gets covered in ink.” “What sign?” “The one that says, ‘Please DO NOT test pens.’ I don’t see it anymore. It used to be right here.” Today’s Wonderful Word: “ultracrepidarianism.” Meaning: The habit or…
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Mal-à-Fours
Amuse-bouche: “I’m exhausted. I was up late last night.” “Pumping the midnight iron?” “Yes. Something like that.” Today’s Wonderful Word: “malaphor.” Definition: Malaphors, also called “idiom blends” are mixtures of two or more aphorisms, idioms, or clichés. Etymology: The first recorded use was when writer Lawrence Harrison combined “malapropism” and “metaphor” into “malaphor” in a Washington…
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4 Levels of Communication
Today’s quote: “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.”– Tony Robbins, author, speaker, coach Let’s talk about communication. There are countless ways to communicate with someone. You can communicate in person or…
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Equipoise
Amuse-bouche: What did one coffin say to the other coffin? “Was that you coughin’?” Today’s Wonderful Word: “equipoise.” Meaning: a situation in which things are perfectly balanced. Example of “equipoise between”: There is in the artist’s landscapes a delicate equipoise between the natural and the man-made. Example of “in equipoise”: If the evidence for and…
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Muted(,) Pleas(e)
Amuse-bouche: On était censé changer les choses. Depuis quand les choses nous ont changés ? – Orelsan Today’s Wonderful Word: “gainsay.” Definition: to deny, dispute, or contradict Etymology: First recorded between 1250–1300, from the Middle English word gainsaien, literally “say against.” Example: It’s hard to gainsay the fact that technology has drastically changed our lives. Answer to Saturday’s…
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Your Home
Amuse-bouche: (Leaving a restaurant due to no open tables): “No one eats here anymore because it’s too crowded.” Today’s Wonderful Word: “zeitgeber.” Definition: an environmental cue, as the length of daylight or the degree of temperature, that helps to regulate the cycles of an organism’s biological clock. Etymology: Zeitgeber comes from German, in which it…
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L’esprit de l’escalier
Amuse-bouche: The day is (h)ours. Today’s Wonderful Word: “assiduous.” Definition: showing hard work, care, and attention to detail, constant in application or effort, working diligently at a task. Example: An assiduous reader and cook can learn countless lessons by reading through the family cookbook. “You know when ______ said ______? I should have responded ______ ___ ______ __ ________ _ _________. If only…
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Words with all five vaoiweuls
Amuse-bouche: It’s not that difficult to tell alligators and crocodiles apart. One will see you in a while whereas the other one will see you later. Today’s Wonderful Word: “capullo.” “Capullo” is a Spanish word that literally means “cocoon.” “Capullo” is used in slang to mean that someone is an idiot or a fool. I’ve…
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Amusing Amalgamation
Amuse-bouche: “Bye! Have a great day. And stay out of the kitchen! Leave the peach cobbler alone!” I couldn’t help myself. I sneaked into the kitchen and watched him. Watched him make his stupid little peach shoes. “Nobody’s going to wear those,” I said under my breath. “They’re stupid.” But on he worked. Today’s Wonderful…
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Garden path sentences
Amuse-bouche: Today’s Wonderful Word: “tergiversation.” Definition: The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion. Alternate definition: The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous; equivocation. Etymology: The verb “tergiversate” was recorded in English around the mid-17th century, but the noun form was in use a…
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Comparative illusion
Amuse-bouche: More people have been to Berlin than I have. Today’s Wonderful Word: “illusion.” Definition: an instance of a wrong or misinterpreted perception of a sensory experience. Etymology: From Old French illusion “a mocking, deceit, deception” (12c.), from Latin illusionem (nominative illusio) “a mocking, jesting, jeering; irony,” from past-participle stem of illudere “mock at,” literally “to play with.” Example: Stripes embellish the surface to create the…
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Notes, body, flavor, aroma, fragrance, brightness
Amuse-bouche: Someone asked Duolingo, “Are there any words that all languages have in common?” Researchers at the language app looked into it and identified two words that sound remarkably similar across all languages. Can you identify those two words? ANSWERS: coffee and chocolate. (Source) Today’s Wonderful Word: “terroir.” Definition: Terroir refers to how the origin…
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Nickelodeon
Amuse-bouche: Ugly as sin. Meaning: extremely ugly. Today’s Wonderful Word: “nickelodeon.” Definition: an early movie theater to which admission usually cost five cents. Etymology: From 1888, as the name of a theater in Boston. By 1909 as “a motion picture theater,” from nickel “five-cent coin” (the cost to view one) + –odeon, as in Melodeon (1840) “music hall,” ultimately from…
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Rigmarole
Amuse-bouche: Always random. An oxymoron(?) Today’s Wonderful Word: “rigmarole.” Definition: something (such as a procedure or an explanation) that is long, complicated, and tedious. Alternative definition: confused or meaningless talk. Etymology: In the Middle Ages, the term Rageman or Ragman referred to a game in which a player randomly selected a string attached to a roll of verses and read…
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Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
Amuse-bouche: Thief: “The best entry is through the glass door.” *throws a brick and shatters the entire left side of the two-pane sliding glass door* Thief, trying the handle of the right half of the sliding glass door: “Aw, rats! It’s locked.” *steps inside through the open door frame on the left side to unlock…
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The Crack of Dawn
Today’s expression: “Bright and early.” Meaning: very early; the earliest part of the morning. This expression makes no sense. If it’s truly the earliest part of the day you’re talking about, the sun won’t be in the sky. We should rewrite the expression. It should be “dark and early.” Or, at the very least, “bright…
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Bibliomaniac
Amuse-bouche: I get so stressed when my desk is cluttered. I’m grateful for modern science and all the ways to relieve stress, like with fidget spinners and stress balls, for example. However, I will say that I’m starting to get overwhelmed with all the stress balls and fidget spinners covering my desk. Today’s Wonderful Word:…
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Don’t take this for granite.
Amuse-bouche: This is goofpaste. For goofs. Today’s Wonderful Word: “abscond.” Definition: to depart in a sudden and secret manner. Etymology: The first records of the word “abscond” come from around the 1600s. Abscond comes from the Latin verb abscondere, meaning “to hide or stow away.” The word typically implies that someone has left because they have done…
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Giant Squid
Amuse-bouche: “Giant squid” in Irish directly translates to “big mother of suck.” Today’s Wonderful Word: “Hobson-Jobson.” Definition: the alteration of a word or phrase borrowed from another language to accord more closely with the phonological and lexical patterns of the borrowing language. Etymology: Hobson-Jobson comes from the Arabic lament ḥasan ḥusayn. British soldiers stationed in…
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Heteronyms
Amuse-bouche: I started a war, saw a pole, and it was all in Warsaw, Poland. Today’s Wonderful Word: “knickknack.” Definition: a small, worthless object, usually used as decoration. Alternate spelling: “knick-knack.” Etymology: a reduplication of “knack,” meaning “an ingenious device, toy, trinket” (1530s); from a specialized sense of “knack” which means “stratagem, trick” (1570s). Perhaps…
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-ough-
Amuse-bouche: Every morning for the past nine months, I announce loudly to my family that I’m going for a jog, and then I don’t. It’s my longest running joke of this year. Today’s Wonderful Word: “cheapskate.” Definition: a miserly or stingy person, especially one who tries to avoid paying a fair share of costs or…
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False French Friends
Amuse-bouche: I just spent $100 on a belt that doesn’t fit. Huge waist. Today’s Wonderful Words: “false friends.” Definition: a word or expression that has a similar form to one in a person’s native language, but a different meaning. Example: In English, we have the word “magazine.” In French, there is the word “magasin,” which…
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Learn your Alfa Bravo Charlies
Amuse-bouche: “It’s not the best time to go because it’s Easter weekend.” “Yeah, it’ll be Paque’d.” Today’s Wonderful Word: “quiddity.” Definition: the essential nature of a thing. Etymology: “Quiddity” is from the Latin word quidditās meaning “essence” or “whatness.” Quintessence or quintessential refer to the perfect embodiment of something and also derive from the same Latin root, quid,…
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The phonetic alphabet
Amuse-bouche: A centurion walks into a bar, holds up 2 fingers, and the bartender brings him 5 beers. Today’s Wonderful Word: “ferdutzt.” Definition: confused; bewildered. Etymology: “Ferdutzt” is from Pennsylvania Dutch, and originates with the German verdutzt, meaning “bewildered, nonplussed.” “Ferdutzt” was first recorded in English in the early 1980s. Example: The mechanic was ferdutzt and surprised…
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Does he honestly expect
Amuse-bouche: Why is “liqueur” pronounced liquor and “liquor” pronounced liqueur? Today’s Wonderful Word: “animalcule.” Definition: a minute or microscopic animal, nearly or quite invisible to the naked eye. Etymology: “Animalcule” was first recorded in English in the 1590s. It comes from New Latin animalculum, meaning “small animal.” The animal– element literally means “airy” or “breathy” in Latin. Writing from December 4,…
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The Clay and the Potter
Amuse-bouche: Everything’s fiction in one way or another. Today’s Wonderful Word: “formication.” Definition: the sensation of ants or insects crawling on or under the skin. Califormication by the Red Hot Fire Ants Writing from May 5th, 2020 Dust. And breath. In a brown chair which he crafted, at a metal table which he forged, sat a…
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The dog days
Amuse-bouche: Sorry for missing the time-management workshop. I lost track of time. Today’s Wonderful Word: “canicule.” Alternative definition: the hot period between early July and early September. It’s the hottest summer ever, probably. The dog days are the hottest days of the year. It seems like we’re having more and more “hottest” days every year.…
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Have you ever wondered why…?
Amuse-bouche: When I order at the bakery in France, I never know if I should say “un” or “une” baguette. So, my friend told me an easy solution. It’s more expensive, but it works. Order “deux baguettes.” Today’s Wonderful Words: “comb, womb, bomb.” These words have identical endings yet different pronunciations. Have you ever wondered…
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Have you ever wondered how…?
Amuse-bouche: In New York, pressed the brakes. Stopped my car between the lines, call that Central Park. Today’s Wonderful Word: “oneiromancy.” Definition: divination through dreams. Etymology: Oneiromancy is based on Ancient Greek óneiros, “dream,” and manteía, “divination.” Óneiros is of uncertain origin, with relatives in Albanian and Armenian but in no other languages. Manteía comes…
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Le Tour de France (Part 8)
Today’s quote: Your situation doesn’t have to change at all in order for your perspective to change entirely. Vocabulaire Le peloton : groupe de coureurs. Coureur : nom donné aux cyclistes. Maillot jaune : porté par le coureur occupant la première place d’un classement aux étapes précédentes. Il est jaune parce que L’Auto a été imprimé sur papier…
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Le Tour de France (Part 7)
Amuse-bouche: Why can’t bikes stand on their own? Because they’re two-tired. Today’s Wonderful Word: “reboant.” Definition: resounding or reverberating loudly. Etymology: Reboant comes from Latin re-, “back, again,” and boāre, “to cry aloud.” Boāre is either related to or derived from Ancient Greek boân, of the same meaning, and these words may be of onomatopoeic…
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Le Tour de France (Part 6)
Today’s quote: “I write to discover what I think. After all, the bars aren’t open that early.” – Daniel J. Boorstin En outre, Pierre Sansot compare la Grande Boucle avec une procession catholique, une liturgie nationale. « L’étape constituait tout autant une route parcourue qu’une pause. Le Tour se composait d’étapes tout comme le chemin de…
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Le Tour de France (Part 5)
Amuse-bouche: My friend keeps saying “Cheer up mate, it could be worse, you could be stuck underground in a hole full of water!” I know he means well. Today’s Wonderful Word: “afterwards.” “Afterwards” uses only letters on the left side of the QWERTY keyboard. Malgré le danger qu’ils présentent, le Tourmalet, le mont Ventoux, l’Alpe…
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Le Tour de France (Part 4)
Today’s quote: “The rule about aquariums is you can’t wear blue because the animals will mistake you for water.” – Me Il n’y a pas beaucoup de « règles » dans le Tour de France. Dans les premières années du Tour, « les départs se font souvent la nuit (entre 23 heures et 5 heures du matin) pour…
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Le Tour de France (Part 3)
Amuse-bouche: What do you call an elephant that doesn’t matter? An irrelephant. Today’s Wonderful Word: “nibling.” Nibling is a gender-neutral term used to refer to a child of one’s sibling as a replacement for “niece” or “nephew”. Règles et stratégies Comment la Grande Boucle marche-t-elle ? Nous allons analyser les chiffres clés de 2019 et le…
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Le Tour de France (Part 2)
Today’s quote: “Ain’t nothin’ to it but to do it.” – Ted Lasso Bien sûr, le TDF va beaucoup changer à travers les âges. Par exemple, la vitesse moyenne du premier Tour était 25,68 km/h. En 1919, la vitesse moyenne était 24,06 km/h, le Tour le plus lent. (Cette année-là marque aussi la date de…
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Le Tour de France (Part 1)
Amuse-bouche: Cold hotdog. An oxymoron. Today’s Wonderful Word: “schlimazel.” Definition: a consistently unlucky or accident-prone person. Etymology: Yiddish shlimazel consistently unlucky person, bad luck, misfortune. For the remainder of the month of July, you will have the chance to read a paper that I wrote for my French capstone class. Here is it, Un aperçu…
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Heads Up!
Amuse-bouche: “I joined the Messy’s Anonymous group only last week, but now I can’t find my membership book in all this clutter!” Today’s Wonderful Word: “alley-oop.” Definitions: Interjection – used as a shout of encouragement or exhortation, especially when coordinating efforts to lift a heavy object. Basketball – a quick-score play in which a high,…
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Concision is key
Amuse-bouche: « Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte. » “I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” – Blaise Pascal Today’s Wonderful Word: “concision.” Definition: marked by brevity of expression or…
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Origami
Amuse-bouche: Every “c” in “Pacific Ocean” is pronounced differently. Today’s Wonderful Word: “origami.” Definition: the Japanese art or process of folding squares of paper into representational shapes. Etymology: Japanese, from “ori” (fold) + “kami” (paper). The Crane The Shirt Life begins as a flat page. As we grow older, our pages wrinkle and roll and…
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Treasure chess
Today’s quote: “Try to be like the turtle – at ease in your own shell.” – Bill Copeland Worried that you aren’t good at chess? Blame pollution. According to an article on Engoo.com, air pollution may cause more chess mistakes. Take a look at this link to check out the article. Engoo.com is a treasure…
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Cut it out!
Amuse-bouche: Making a living is the same as making a killing. Today’s Wonderful Words: “phrasal verbs.” Definition: a phrase that combines a verb with a preposition or adverb or both and that functions as a verb whose meaning is different from the combined meanings of the individual words. Here are some phrasal verbs that use…
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A bathroom sign
Amuse-bouche: Obvious is something easy to notice. Oblivious is one who doesn’t notice. Today’s Wonderful Word: “gallinipper.” Definition: insects that sting or bite, such as the Large American Mosquito. Etymology: “Gallinipper” was first recorded in English around 1680. “Gallinipper” previously appeared as “gal-knipper” and “gurnipper.” The second half of “gallinipper” looks as it does because…
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Wanderwort
Amuse-bouche: To ignore someone is to give yourself ignorance. If you ignore someone, you are choosing ignorance. Today’s Wonderful Word: “Wanderwort.” Definition: a loanword borrowed from one language and established in many unrelated languages, usually in a chain of adoption determined by established trade routes, and sometimes undergoing changes caused by contact with the native…
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Tongue Twisters
Amuse-bouche: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? Today’s Wonderful Words: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he…
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Idioms
Amuse-bouche: “Head down?” (to the basement) I nodded and opened the door. “(Keep your) Head down. We have to duck here for the duct work.” Today’s Wonderful Words: Ever find yourself searching for the meaning or origin of an expression? Eager to learn a new idiom every day? Visit the Free Dictionary at https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com. The Free…
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Igpay Atinlay
Amuse-bouche: “…a German shepherd puppy.” “A German WHAT her puppy?” Today’s Wonderful Words: “eunoia, adoulie, douleia, eucosia, eulogia, eunomia, eutopia, miaoued, moineau, sequoia, suoidea, education, unequivocally, unquestionably.” These words each contain all 5 vowels. “Pig Latin” in Pig Latin is Igpay Atinlay. Example sentence written in Igpay Atinlay: Aketay outay ethay ashtray. = Take out…
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Watch your ****ing language!
Today’s expression: “Watch your language.” Meaning: To speak politely, without using profane, obscene, or rude words or phrases. Overheard conversation “Hey, Sam, how the **** are ya?” “Oh, I’m pretty ****ing fantastic, Cat. How ‘bout yourself?” “Never better. Listen, I’m calling to **** about the **** from last Friday.” “What the **** are you ****ing…
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Radio Garden
Amuse-bouche: Roses are grey, violets are grey, I am a dog. Today’s Wonderful Word: “Afghanistan.” Afghanistan is the only country that has three letters in alphabetic sequence (F, G, H). Radio Garden is a little gem of a website. When you visit Radio Garden, you will see a globe full of lights. Each light represents…
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Homonyms
Amuse-bouche: Why do seagulls fly over the sea? Because if they flew over the bay, they would be bagels! Today’s Wonderful Word: “homonym.” Definition: each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins. Examples: “pole” and “pole,” “mean” and “mean.” I’m addressing you to tell you my…
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Homophones
Amuse-bouche: You’re up here. You’re a peer. You’re a pee-er. You’re a pier. Your up ear. Europe here. You, rapier. Yewr, appear. Ewe Rup here. Today’s Wonderful Word: “homophone.” Definition: each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling. Examples: “new” and “knew,” “compliment” and “complement.” Don’t forget…
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Metalanguage
Amuse-bouche: Don’t drive recklessly. Drive wrecklessly. Today’s Wonderful Words: “Janus word.” Definition: a word that has opposite or nearly opposite meanings. Etymology: Janus is the literally two-faced Roman god of beginnings, doorways, and the movement of the sun. The name Janus is also the source of January (Latin Jānuārius) and related to jānus, “doorway, covered…
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Acrostics
Amuse-bouche: The raisin wined about how he couldn’t achieve grapeness. Today’s Wonderful Word: “esoteric.” Definition: intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest. François Villon was a sneaky little devil. Pardon the interruPTIon. Villon wrote Le Testament, in which he carefully placed a special…
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High School English Class
Amuse-bouche: “What’s upstairs?” “Uh, sorry, but the stairs don’t talk.” Today’s Wonderful Word: “stravage.” Definition: to wander aimlessly; to saunter or stroll. Etymology: From the late 18th century, when “stravage” likely developed by shortening and alteration from the now-archaic word “extravagate,” a synonym for “stray” and “roam” that can also mean “to go beyond proper…
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Palindromes
Amuse-bouche: Rats live on no evil star. – A palindrome Today’s Wonderful Word: “borborygmi” Definition: rumbling or gurgling sounds caused by the movement of gas in the intestines. A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as [wow]. Spaces and punctuation don’t usually count. Thus, [lion oil]…
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The dummy of Zeery
Amuse-bouche: Only Handle It Once (OHIO). Ohio is also the close pronunciation of “good morning” in Japanese. Make it a good morning by only handling it once. A job done well is a job well done. Today’s Wonderful Word: “selcouth.” Definition: strange, uncommon. Etymology: From Old English seldcūth, which is equivalent to seldan, meaning “seldom,”…
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Jehu v Baal
Today’s quote: Haste makes waste. Here’s a little something I wrote. Brain teaser: Place eight queens on an empty chess board (8 X 8 grid) so that no queen is threatening another. That means no two queens can share the same row, column, or diagonal. A+
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Anagrams
Amuse-bouche: Six Word Stories: Basement elevator attendant seeks a raise. – Philip Kingsley, UK You’re so sweet, but I’m diabetic. – Bradley Sancken, Japan Today’s Wonderful Word: casarse. From Spanish, casarse means “to get married.” Casa means “house.” The reflexive se is often used when an action verb is done to or related to oneself. The verb casarse shows that marriage is an…
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Learning French as a Beginner
Amuse-bouche: One bright day in the middle of the night, Two dead men stood up to fight. Back-to-back they faced each other, Drew their swords and shot one another. If you don’t believe my story is true, Ask the blind man – he saw it, too. Today’s Wonderful Word: « vendredi. » « Vendredi »…
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15 Acronyms and Abbreviations
Amuse-bouche: The word “typewriter” uses only letters on the top row of keys on a standard QWERTY keyboard. Today’s Wonderful Word: “photi.” Photi is pronounced like fish. Think phonetically. In “Joseph,” the “ph” makes the same sound as the “f” in “fish.” In “women,” the “o” makes the same sound as the “i” in “fish.”…
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Pleonasms
Amuse-bouche: Tuna fish Today’s Wonderful Word: “pleonasm.” Definition: the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning, either as a fault of style or for emphasis. Etymology: from Greek pleonazein meaning “to be superfluous.” Pleonasms are the enemies of concision. And concision is key. Enough said. Once upon a time, a long time ago in…
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Why I started learning French
Amuse-bouche: What do you call someone who knows more than 3 languages? A polyglot. What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks only one language? American. Today’s Wonderful Word: “polyglot.” Definition: Someone who can use several languages at advanced, or fluent, levels. Etymology: Mid-17th century, from…
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I’m a morpheme addict.
I have a confession to make. For many years now – for as long as I can remember – I’ve had an addiction. Sometimes it’s all I think about. It’s been weighing on my heart to share this with someone. I hope I can trust you to make the best of what I’m about to…
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Typos are teh wurst
Amuse-bouche: It’s called a garbage disposal because it disposes all. Maybe it should be called “disposalexceptpotatoskins.” Today’s Wonderful Word: “monopoly.” One of only a handful of one-word oxymorons in existence. “Mono-” means single or one. The suffix (or prefix) “-poly” means many. Typos are teh worst Typos are tipe-oh-grafikal errurs. Teh wurst parte about seeeing…
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20 Texting Acronyms and Abbreviations
Amuse-bouche: An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and a German are all watching a dolphin do some marvelous tricks. The dolphin notices that the four guys have a very poor view, so it jumps higher out of the water and asks, “Can you all see me now?” And they respond: Yes. Oui. Sí. Ja. Today’s…
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The balloon artist
The balloon artist In the great state of Tennessee, there once was a balloon artist named Willow who set up her stand at the corner of the street for the town’s weekly market. Willow had wonderful skill. She was especially skilled at making bird, raccoon, and giraffe balloon animals. Parents would often bring their children…
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The Storm Flees When You’re Having Fun
Amuse-bouche: Eat fast. An oxymoron. Today’s Wonderful Words: “TEMPUS FUGIT.” Maybe they were going for “TEMPUS FUGIT,” one letter off. Close, but no cigar. Maybe the engraver was distracted, having a good time. Maybe they lost track of time and spent too long on the other engravings, enjoying the work of their trade. When they…
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Oxymoronic
Amuse-bouche: Deafening silence Today’s Wonderful Word: “oxymoron.” Definition: a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction Etymology: mid 17th century, from Greek “oxumōros” meaning “pointedly foolish,” from “oxus” meaning “sharp” and “mōros” meaning “foolish.” Sure, the Greek word for “sharp” may have been used most often to describe objects such as swords…
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Journaling
Today’s quote: In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mina Murray comments on journaling and says, “It is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time.” There is something profound about putting pen to paper and crafting a place of refuge for personal thoughts, deep emotions, and subjective retellings of daily occurrences. Words envelop our souls…
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Etymology etymology
Amuse-bouche: Underground is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with “und.” Today’s Wonderful Word: “etymology.” Definition: the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. Etymology of “etymology”: Late Middle English, from Old French « ethimologie, » via Latin from Greek…
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Un petit jeu de mots
Amuse-bouche: I once entered ten puns into a contest, hoping one of them would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did. Today’s Wonderful Word(s): « jeu de mots » (m) Literal translation: “game of words” Figurative translation: “pun” (m) = masculine. The word « jeu » is a masculine noun in French. “Pun” can also be a verb meaning to make a joke…
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L’Oiseaulivre
Amuse-bouche: « À plus tard / À plus / A+ » « À plus tard » means “see you later” in French. « À plus » is closer to “see ya.” « A+ » is the texting abbreviation. Today’s Wonderful Word: « l’oiseaulivre » Oiseau = bird Livre = book The bookbird. Or the birdbook. Native to samediqqch. Classification…
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